QLD remains the heavyweight in Australian tourism

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At this year's Australian Tourism Awards in Melbourne, Queensland came out shining with five of the top awards, reports Australia.to.

Australia Zoo took out the coveted Australia's Major Tourist Attraction, while the Quicksilver Group snatched the Major Tour Operator and Tourism Marketing categories.

The Sustainable Tourism Award went to the Cairns' Skyrail Rainforest Cableway, while The Discovery Group the best tour operator in the ecotourism categories.

Queensland Premier Desley Boyle said the results would go a long way to ensuring Queensland tourism operators remain at the forefront of Australian tourism.

"Tourism directly employs 119,000 Queenslanders and contributes more than $8 billion to our economy each year.

"The current economic climate means 2008 was a tough year for many operators and 2009 is shaping up to be equally tough so it's fantastic to see Queensland take out five of the 27 awards, particularly in what are some of the most hotly contended categories."

The east coast of Australia is a hot favourite for young working holidaymakers, who follow a similar path from the tropical north Queensland to Sydney in NSW. Travelling this path has been made easy, with a myriad of domestic flights, coaches, and trains providing a wealth of options to sidle the way down the coastal towns, beaches and islands of Australia's east coast with hundreds of other working holidaymakers.

Travellers aged between 18 and 30 years old from nominated countries can apply for an Australian working holiday visa, which allows them to work and holiday in Australia for up to 12 months. An option of a second working holiday is available for those who work in horticultural regions of Australia for three months or more in specific occupations.

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